


Built Bridges

by MizuLeKitten



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Established Relationship, Flashbacks, Fluff, Getting Together, In A Broad Sense of The Tag At Least, It Makes Sense in Context, Light Angst, M/M, Reminiscing, playing with hair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 21:05:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14505477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizuLeKitten/pseuds/MizuLeKitten
Summary: Keith thinks back over his life, the events that brought him to where he was currently: playing with Lotor's hair as his partner reads.





	Built Bridges

**Author's Note:**

> Keitor exchange ficlet for the awesome stirlingpheonix! Hope you enjoy!

**** Keith had lost a lot throughout his life, a fact he didn’t like to dwell on often. He had lost his mother before he even got to know her, and his father shortly after that. He had made friends and lost them when it was time to switch homes, and had accepted he’d lost any ability to form relationships because of it all. When he finally did make a friend, one he treasured dearly, Shiro was sent up into space and declared dead due to pilot error.

Keith never gave up. It would’ve been easy to, especially with the hole left in his chest after he lost Shiro, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. He was always a fighter, rolling with the punches the universe aimed at him. He had survived the system, adapted to each new place he was sent to, and clawed his way to the top with good grades and a semi-decent record. It was that adaptability and instincts that carried him through the Garrison. It was those that brought him into the desert after punching Iverson, a feeling at the back of his mind and a knife strapped to his waist. It was what brought him to space, to his best friend, to an intergalactic war, and to what Keith tentatively called love.

He looked down at the luscious, white hair in his hands, the way it twined together to form an elegant braid. Yes, he had lost a lot in his life, but he had also started to gain.

Lotor had been an unexpected addition to Keith’s life, one brought about by war and anger. It only seemed fitting that the man Keith was so obsessed in finding, so obsessed that he left Voltron (granted there was more to it than that), would be the man he would fall for. The war was still present in their lives, a constant presence, but the anger had long since dissipated. Getting stuck on a planet with someone you had a tentative treaty with would result in such bridges being formed. Keith had never expected for the bridges to  _ stay…. _

~*~

_ They knew the basics of what the planet could throw at them: cold days, hot nights. Keith didn’t understand it, the star they were orbiting wasn’t out at night, so what gave off the heat? He didn’t focus on it for long, knowing the answer wouldn’t come to him, and instead took in the land around them. The foliage had been lacking, primarily dead stalks of trees and plants that seemed to only be staying up out of sheer spite, when they first crashed around mid-day, but as night approached the seemingly dead wasteland burst into color. Trees, shrubs, and flowers alike seemed to bloom, giving off an array of neon lights that bounced off their neighbors and lit the forest ablaze in color. _

_ He had watched it all from the top of their downed fighter jet. It was like a scene right out of a fantasy novel, and he knew he’d remember it for days to come (In the future the memory would also serve as a turning point for Keith, but in the moment he only expected the foliage). _

_ “It is beautiful,” a voice came from behind Keith. _

_ He spun on his heel. His knife thrust upwards, stopping mere centimeters away from his company’s neck. _

_ “ _ Lotor,”  _ Keith scowled, his blade remaining where it was. _

_ “Seeing as I’m the only other person on this planet, that would be me,” despite the sass, Lotor raised his arms up in a placating gesture, “I had not meant to startle you.” _

_ Keith would’ve laughed, or at least smiled, at the teasing if it had been anyone else, but this was Lotor. He had chased Lotor too far, had exhausted himself to the bone too often, to simply let it all go. He didn’t hate Lotor, knew there was more to him than everyone was willing to see, but that didn’t mean he trusted him. _

_ He watched Lotor as the other walked around him, settling down on the roof of their ship and staring out at the scenery. They stayed that way, Keith standing, Lotor sitting, until Keith’s legs began to protest. He had done a lot earlier, gathering supplies in case help didn’t come right away, so the added work of standing in place for who knows how long was getting to him. _

_ He took a place a bit away from Lotor. He didn’t expect Lotor to attack him, it’d be damnation for the other if he did, but a part of Keith that had been there long before the war kept him on his guard. _

_ “I had not been informed that my guard was also the former Black and Red paladin,” Lotor’s voice cut through the silence, a jarring statement considering the talk of foliage before. _

_ It hit a sore spot within Keith, a spot that was still raw from the pain of leaving not just Red and Black, but his team all that time ago. He had hoped it would have healed by now, but, if the surge of anger (grief) within his veins meant anything, it hadn’t. _

_ “Wasn’t important,” was Keith’s clipped reply as he sent a glare towards Lotor, “Black has their rightful paladin back.” _

_ “I see,” Lotor said, and it was then that Keith realized he hadn’t mentioned Red in his justification. He hoped Lotor didn’t push the topic, knew that whatever he did in response to continuing would be telling of his mental state regardless of how he chose to react. _

_ Maybe it had shown on his face, or maybe Lotor didn’t actually care; regardless of the reason, Lotor turned away. The following moments allowed Keith the time to gather himself back together, but nothing could’ve prepared him for Lotor’s final statement. _

_ “I know how it feels,” Lotor’s gaze did not falter from where he was gazing out at the foliage, “to lose your team, your family. It is not a kind feeling.” _

_ Lotor did not elaborate. He knew it was a different loss than his own; he had seen the reports of Zarkon’s new little team, and had recognized their faces as Lotor’s old companions. It was still a loss all the same. _

_ Something changed in that moment, the start of a bridge Keith didn’t realize was forming began. Silence fell upon them, but it wasn’t tense. They were both hurt people, and there was a comfort in it, in each other’s company, as the lights continued to shine in the forest around them. _

_ When someone came for them a quintant later, the walls did not come back up. The bridge had stayed. _

~*~

…Then the bridges had been built upon by the greatest craftsmen; time, trust, and communication; and had been reinforced by the strongest metals the universe had to offer; themselves.

All of that had led them to where they were now, Keith with a handful of Lotor’s hair, braiding it over and over again as the other read. Sometimes Lotor would read aloud, and sometimes they’d allow the space to stay quiet save the gentle thrum of the ship around them.

Lotor hummed as Keith pulled the braid apart bit by bit, not wishing to hurt his partner. When he got closer to the roots he placed his hand near the base of Lotor’s scalp, spreading his fingers out before running them up through the hair; it earned him pleased noise.

Lotor’s hair was soft, and he took a few minutes to carefully run his fingers through it. He’d always wanted to be this close to someone, to have any form of physical intimacy. His own social awkwardness had always seemed to stand in the way, and he hadn’t had a single clue on how to surpass it….

~*~

_ Keith watched the others from where he stood with the Blades. They hugged one another, weary smiles on their faces from a battle hard fought. His skin began to tingle, his body calling up the memory of his last group hug with them before he left. _

_ It had been the last hug he received. The Blade’s generally communicated with bumps and nudges between friends, and forehead touches between lovers. He was too new, too awkward, to forge new relationships within the Blade, to earn even the smallest of bumps in the hallway. It wasn’t their fault; the Blade tried, but Keith was too awkward (too  _ scared _ ) to give back. _

_ Watching his old team rejoice only made something burn within his chest, something he didn’t want to spend time thinking about because if he did he knew he’d unwrap a whole ball of problems that he wasn’t equipped to deal with. Keith made his gaze to wander over the rest of the Coalition that had assembled for the battle. He spotted Matt running to the Paladins, a grin on his face as Pidge launched herself at him. _

_ Keith physically turned away. _

_ It was then that Keith spotted Lotor in the distance. He wasn’t taking part in the Coalition’s celebration. Instead, watching it from afar. Keith didn’t blame him; the Blade still received cold receptions; the exiled prince would only receive worse. _

_ He was walking over before he could even think. _

_ Things had changed between them after their isolation on Planet 096 (uninhabited and thus nameless). There was something new budding between them. He didn’t know what it was, didn’t allow himself to think about that either (scared). _

_ He didn’t wave upon approach, simply walking up to Lotor and settling by his side to look out over the Coalition. The chatter from those below filled the silence around them, but Keith didn’t feel awkward. He had always found comfort in silence, with only bits of background noise to fill in the gaps. It had always helped center him. _

_ “You fought well today,” Lotor’s voice broke through their bubble. _

_ Keith glanced over at the other, but Lotor was still staring straight ahead. Instinct took over, and he let his side bump into Lotor’s, shoulder resting against Lotor’s upper arm. _

_ “You did too.” _

_ He felt Lotor’s eyes land on him, but it was his turn to look away. The Coalition was still celebrating down below, but Lotor was surprisingly warm against his side. _

_ Keith knew he was awkward (scared), but this felt right. It was as if his fear- awkwardness, had started to melt away by Lotor’s warmth. _

~*~

… Lotor let out a loud yawn that had Keith stopping in his ministrations. He briefly ran his fingers down the long locks, ensuring that any knots that had formed were gone before scooching back on their bed.

“Tired?” he asked.

“Hard not to be with your deft fingers at work,” Lotor shot a fanged smile over his shoulder at Keith.

Keith rolled his eyes in good nature, before leaning forward. He captured Lotor’s lips in his; his body flooded with a soft warmth that spread from his heart outwards. They maneuvered together as they laid back, always touching the other whether it was a hand on a hip, a brushing of legs, or both. It was a gentle reassurance to one another that they were there, a physical intimacy that they both had longed for.

They kissed once more before leaning their foreheads against one another. Keith’s eyes flickered open, taking in Lotor’s relaxed form. He lifted a hand up to Lotor’s cheek, rubbing his thumb over the skin. Lotor sank into the action, letting out a pleased hum.

They had both fought, in their own ways, for this relationship to form, to build those bridges between them. He had lost many things that he had fought for, but this was not one of them. He couldn’t be more grateful for it all because even while the war still raged outside their doors, here they could be together. He trusted Lotor, and with that trust, his  _ fear _ melted away.

**Author's Note:**

> Can find me on tumblr under MizuLeKitten~~~


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